"Impeachable conduct."
"The totality of the corrupt conduct uncovered by the Committees is egregious."
"A concerted effort to conceal President Biden’s involvement in the family’s influence peddling scheme."
These are the findings of a trio of House committees – led by Republicans – into the conduct of President Biden. It’s the final report of the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., initiated the inquest verbally last summer, trying to quash an uprising from his right flank. The House finally formalized the probe through a roll call vote in December.
Note that many Republicans wanted any impeachment investigation wrapped up by the start of last fall, not a couple of months before the 2024 election.
"Republicans have worked to impede and obstruct any effort to investigate Mr. Trump’s actual and proven corruption, including his unconstitutional receipt, while Commander-in-Chief, of millions of dollars from foreign governments that sought, and often received, favors from his Administration," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, in his own "counter" report.
House Republicans released their 292-page report hours before the president was scheduled to speak to the Democratic convention in Chicago.
The document argues that Mr. Biden’s conduct warranted sanctions, saying his "flagrant abuse of office is clear: impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal by the Senate."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged "all Americans to read this report." But besides thanking the committees for their work, Johnson didn’t signal there would be a vote on impeachment or imply that the House Republican leadership brass would entertain such a possibility.
That’s because, at this stage, a prospective vote to impeach President Biden would likely fail on the floor.
Why? It’s about the math. There are at least a dozen House Republicans who oppose impeachment. One senior House GOP leadership source characterized a vote now as "moot."
Fox is told Republicans soured further on impeachment when President Biden decided against seeking reelection. Plus, Mr. Biden only has five more months before the end of his term. Moreover, a vote on impeachment would put moderate Republicans from swing districts in a bind as the GOP tries to maintain its slim majority. Trotting out a vote on impeachment – just to have a vote on impeachment at this stage – would likely produce a loss on the floor. Democrats could then boomerang the failed impeachment vote on those vulnerable Republicans. Democrats would underscore how Republicans tried for more than a year to impeach President Biden. And it culminated in a failed vote on the floor.
POLITICAL PARALLELS BETWEEN 1968 AND 2024 AS THE DEMOCRATS RETURN TO CHICAGO
A botched impeachment vote would undercut the Republicans’ report itself and constitute an unforced error for the GOP.
It would also mean Republicans may have placed the emphasis on the wrong syllable – just before the election. Mr. Biden’s issues should be old news to Republicans. But focusing on President Biden, right or wrong, is not where the GOP needs to spend its time. Anything tied to impeachment simply steals the spotlight from the narrative Republicans are trying to craft about Vice President Harris. Republicans are still trying to define Harris. Backpedaling to President Biden diminishes that strategy.
If House Republicans truly want to impeach the president – and do it by the book – they would likely need at least another public hearing or two. That would also entail a "markup" session by the Judiciary Committee before sending the matter to the House floor.
The measure would then go to the House Rules Committee. Then the floor for debate and vote.
And how many articles of impeachment could the GOP engineer for President Biden? One? Two? Four?
COMMENTATOR ON LEFT-LEANING SQUAWK BOX BLASTS DEMS FOR HAVING CLINTON AT DNC
The House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this year, slapping him with two articles of impeachment: breaking the law and breaching the public trust.
The House levied a singular article of impeachment against former President Trump in 2021 for "incitement of insurrection" after the riot at the Capitol.
In 1998, the House Judiciary Committee prepared four articles of impeachment for former President Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinsky. The House only approved two articles, lying under oath and obstruction of justice. The House rejected the other articles.
House Republicans will read and consider the impeachment report over the remainder of the congressional recess. Expect some internal debate when House Republicans first meet in a GOP Conference meeting on the morning of September 10.
But just because House Republican leaders don’t want the House to tangle with impeachment doesn’t mean there won’t be pressure to do so. It’s possible there could be an attempt by hardline conservatives to force a vote on the floor. Fox is told that Republican leaders are bracing for that possibility when the House returns. A rank-and-file Republican member could compel a vote on impeachment via a "privileged" resolution. Such specialized resolutions must come to the floor right away or within two legislative days. Democrats would likely move to table or kill the resolution. Republicans are then placed in the dubious position of voting against tabling the resolution to bring it to the floor – or voting to kill it.
One senior House Democratic source even speculated to Fox that since it was doubtful the House could impeach President Biden, maybe Democrats wouldn’t try to table impeachment. They’d leave that up to Republicans. Imagine this scenario: Republicans moving to table their own impeachment measure. That would certainly slather some egg on the face of the GOP.
But that’s the least of the problems for Republicans. A vote to table the impeachment resolution is one step removed from actually voting on impeachment itself. A failure to table the resolution prompts the House to vote, up or down, on impeachment itself. A vote where Republicans reject impeachment – after they talked about it for the better part of this Congress – looks ham-fisted. It also underscores the problem Republicans struggled with since early 2023 – under both McCarthy and Johnson: ultra-conservative members create headaches for the rest of the party. That includes fights over who should be Speaker to battles over government funding.
In its "conclusion" section of its report, the trifecta of House committees declare the President’s deeds amount "to impeachable conduct." The committees add that it's now up to the full House for "evaluation and consideration of appropriate next steps."
Most Republicans don’t want to wrestle with the impeachment of an elderly president who is partly out the door. Especially as Republicans try to maintain a threadbare House majority – and as former President Trump faces a serious challenge from Vice President Harris. The macro politics of the 2024 election may dictate that impeachment dies quietly on the vine. But the micro politics of the House Republican Conference could suggest something else.
With all eyes on Vice President Kamala Harris’ surging campaign and this week’s Democratic National Convention, Republicans are trying to grab headlines Monday by releasing the report of their baseless, purely political impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.
To be sure, they’re getting those headlines. For example, in The New York Times: House G.O.P. Makes Impeachment Case Against Biden Without Proof of Crime.
And from there, it only gets worse for them.
With President Joe Biden leaving office in January, House Republicans’ inquiry is very unlikely to move forward, and as further proof that it was all politics all along, the Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees released all 291 pages of this bullshit report on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.
It’s been clear for months that the inquiry’s main drivers—Oversight Chair James Comer and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan—had nothing. In fact, in the report, Comer and Jordan basically admit as much while saying it feels like there should be something.
“An abuse of power may also be present even if, as some claim, the Biden family was only selling the ‘illusion’ of influence and access,” the report says, and adds, “It is not necessary for the House of Representatives to show that the dealings involved a quid pro quo to rise to the level of an impeachable offense.”
In other words, House Republicans have no evidence, but they don’t need no stinking evidence.
Except, of course, they do. They have to convince a majority of the House to impeach Biden and a majority of the Senate to convict him. And it’s been clear for months that they haven’t even been able to convince a majority of House Republicans to do it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson seems to know the votes aren’t there, and that the few weeks that Congress will be in session before the election will be all about passing a short-term government funding bill, which is going to be a big fight. House Republicans could come back after the election and try it, but that would really put the “lame” in “lame-duck session.”
On Monday, the White House gave the report the ridicule it deserves.
“After wasting nearly two years and millions of taxpayer dollars, House Republicans have finally given up on their wild goose chase,” said Sharon Yang, a White House spokesperson. “This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories.”
“The American people deserve more from House Republicans, and perhaps now they will finally join President Biden in focusing on the real issues that American families actually care about,” Yang added.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland joined in, saying, "Their compulsive flailing about has not only proven, once more, that President Biden committed no wrongdoing, much less an impeachable crime, but has paradoxically vindicated Biden’s essential honor and decency."
Thus it appears that the ridiculous, monthslong probe into the supposed “Biden crime family” limps to a close. Not to worry, Comer has already found his next goose chases: going after Harris over the border and her running mate, Tim Walz, “a longstanding and cozy relationship with China.”
RELATED STORIES:
The 5 best moments of the House ‘impeachment inquiry’ farce
GOP House digs for new Biden dirt as sawdust 'cocaine' and Russian moles fail
The Biden impeachment is a huge failure. The GOP is looking for a way out
Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States.
He was born on Aug. 19, 1946, as William Jefferson Blythe III. His parents were, William Jefferson Blythe II, who died in a car accident before Clinton was born, and Virginia Cassidy Blythe. Clinton was raised by his grandparents until his mother returned from nursing school.
Clinton, a Democrat, served two terms in the White House, but was impeached by the House of Representatives during his second term on Dec. 19, 1998, for committing perjury before a grand jury and obstructing justice.
Before Clinton led the nation as a two-term president, he graduated from Georgetown University. He later received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University and a law degree from Yale University in 1973.
His political venture started in Arkansas, where he was elected attorney general in 1976 after being defeated in his first run for Congress two years prior.
In 1978, he became governor of Arkansas, but lost for a second term.
Four years later, he returned to his role as governor, and then started his presidential campaign against Republican George H.W. Bush.
In 1992, Clinton and his running mate, Albert Gore Jr., were successful in their campaign, defeating Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot for the White House.
In 1996, Clinton won a second term as president, this time defeating Republican Bob Dole and, again, independent candidate Perot.
His presidency became known for accomplishments such as high homeownership, 22 million jobs created and low unemployment rates, but scandal ensued during his terms, too.
CLINTONS ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS HOURS AFTER BIDEN DROPS OUT
During Clinton’s second term as president, he was impeached by the House of Representatives.
His impeachment partly stemmed from sexual harassment claims against Clinton by Paula Jones, that were said to have occurred before he was elected president, according to a research guide by the Library of Congress.
After Clinton was re-elected, evidence came to light of an extramarital affair between the president and Monica Lewinsky, a White House Intern.
Initially, Clinton denied the affair and Lewinsky corroborated the sworn testimony of Clinton.
The investigation was led by the late Kenneth Starr. Before the grand jury, Lewinsky admitted to the sexual relationship with Clinton, and the president admitted to the affair.
In December 1998, the House voted in favor of two articles of impeachment against Clinton, finding that he had committed perjury and obstructed justice. He became the second president in American history to be impeached, the first being Andrew Johnson.
During the Senate trial of 1999, Clinton was acquitted.
After the trial was over, Clinton apologized to Congress and the American people for his behavior, and continued his term as president.
Following his presidency, he continued to be involved in politics. He has shown unwavering support for Democrats, including his wife, Hillary Clinton, who ran for the presidency herself in 2016, but was defeated by Donald Trump.
Clinton has also penned a number of books through the years, including after his presidency, such as "My Life," "Back to Work" and "Citizen: My Life After the White House."
President Biden engaged in "impeachable conduct," House Republicans found in their months-long impeachment inquiry, declaring in their highly anticipated report that he "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family."
Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the 292-page report prepared by the House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee. Those panels have been leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.
"The Committees have accumulated evidence demonstrating that President Biden has engaged in impeachable conduct," the report, which lays out evidence gathered to date, says.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFER HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
Republicans said there is "overwhelming evidence" that Biden participated in a "conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family." They alleged that the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by "leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden."
The committees said the Biden family and its associates received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.
They also alleged that the Biden family leveraged Biden’s position as vice president to obtain more than $8 million in loans from Democrat benefactors. The loans "have not been repaid and the paperwork supporting many of the loans does not exist and has not been produced to the committees."
The Republicans said the conspiracy took place while Biden was serving as vice president.
HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'
"As Vice President, President Biden actively participated in his conspiracy by, among other things, attending dinners with his family’s foreign business partners and speaking to them by phone, often when being placed on speakerphone by Hunter Biden," the report states.
Republicans referenced in the report a 2014 dinner that Biden attended for his son, Hunter, with Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina. After the dinner, Baturina wired $3.5 million to Hunter Biden’s firm, Rosemont Seneca Thornton.
Fox News Digital had previously reported that Biden attended dinners with Hunter Biden’s business associates, including Baturina, in Washington, D.C., at Café Milano in Georgetown in both 2014 and 2015. Biden also met with Jonathan Li of BHR in China in 2013.
Fox News Digital also previously reported that Biden met with the chair of Chinese energy firm CEFC, Ye Jianming, in 2017.
"Based on the totality of evidence, it is inconceivable that President Biden did not understand that he was taking part in an effort to enrich his family by abusing his office of public trust," the report states.
Republicans also said the Biden family "went to great lengths to conceal this conspiracy."
"Foreign money was transmitted to the Biden family through complicated financial transactions," the report states. "The Biden family laundered funds through intermediate entities and broke up large transactions into numerous smaller transactions."
Republicans said Hunter Biden and his business associates leveraged Joe Biden’s position as vice president to garner "favorable outcomes in foreign business dealings and legal proceedings."
"Several witnesses testified that Hunter Biden invoked his father in business dealings with Romanian, Chinese, Kazakhstani, and Ukrainian companies, resulting in millions of dollars flowing to the Biden family," the report states.
DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED
"President Biden’s participation in this conspiracy to enrich his family constitutes as impeachable conduct," they said. "By monetizing the Vice Presidency for his family’s benefit, he abused his office of public trust, placing the welfare of his family ahead of the welfare of the United States."
Republicans added, "He also put foreign interests ahead of the interests of the American people."
Meanwhile, Republicans in their report also said Biden used his official position to "conceal his mishandling of classified information as a private citizen."
"During his tenure as Vice President, Joe Biden removed highly sensitive classified documents from the White House, despite having no authority to do so," the report states.
FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE'S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN
Special Counsel Robert Hur investigated Biden’s improper retention of classified records for months but did not recommend charges against the president. The records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security that implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."
But Hur earlier this year described Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory" and said it "would be difficult to convince a jury they should convict him."
The report also shifts to allegations from IRS whistleblowers, who said federal investigators allowed the statute of limitations to expire on Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes.
"The Justice Department prevented line attorneys from conducting key interviews and pursuing important lines of inquiry," the report states. "The special treatment for Hunter Biden, which only ceased at the onset of congressional attention on the Department’s investigation, may be a basis for impeachment, as the distortion of an official investigation was a basis in the prospective impeachment of President Nixon in 1974."
BIDEN MET WITH CHAIR OF CHINESE ENERGY FIRM HUNTER DID BUSINESS WITH IN 2017, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIES
The report adds, "In certain circumstances the President may be impeached for the actions of subordinate officials."
"The totality of the corrupt conduct uncovered by the Committees is egregious," the report states. "President Joe Biden conspired to commit influence peddling and grift. In doing so, he abused his office and, by repeatedly lying about his abuse of office, has defrauded the United States to enrich his family."
Republicans argue that "not one of these transactions would have occurred, but for Joe Biden’s official position in the United States government."
JOE BIDEN RECEIVED $40K IN 'LAUNDERED CHINA MONEY' FROM BROTHER IN 2017, COMER SAYS
"This pattern of conduct ensured his family – who provided no legitimate services – lived a lavish lifestyle. The evidence uncovered in the Committees’ impeachment inquiry reflects a family selling the ‘Biden brand’ around the world with President Biden – the ‘big guy’ – swooping in to seal the deal on speaker phones or in private dinners," the report states. "It shows a concerted effort to conceal President Biden’s involvement in the family’s influence peddling scheme."
House Republicans pointed to the Constitution, saying the remedy for a president’s "flagrant abuse of office is clear: impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal by the Senate."
"Despite the cheapening of the impeachment power by Democrats in recent years, the House’s decision to pursue articles of impeachment must not be made lightly," the report states. "As such, this report endeavors to present the evidence gathered to date so that all Members of the House may assess the extent of President Biden’s corruption."
House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry report comes weeks after Biden suspended his re-election campaign amid pressure from within the Democratic Party after the first presidential debate in June against former President Trump.
House Republicans have been leading the impeachment inquiry since mid-2023. The full House of Representatives formalized the inquiry in December 2023.
In June, House Republicans sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president's brother, be charged with making false statements to Congress about "key aspects" of the impeachment inquiry.
Hunter Biden was found guilty on federal gun charges in Delaware earlier this year, stemming from charges brought against him by Special Counsel David Weiss. His trial on federal tax charges is set to begin in California in September.
Corey Lewandowski is back in the Donald Trump campaign business again—if he ever really left. Lewandowski was Trump’s first campaign manager from his 2016 run, and it’s unclear what his role will be this time, according to Politico.
CNN reports that current campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles are not believed to be losing their positions despite the past three disastrous weeks for the campaign, which have seen Trump’s steady lead in the polls disappear.
Lewandowski is an all-time villain in Trump World. Let’s dive into a list of his MAGAchievements.
In March 2016, as Trump’s campaign manager, Lewandowski was charged with battery of a female reporter at an event in Jupiter, Florida. After he denied he ever touched the woman, video of the altercation came out and threw a big bucket of reality on how much of a scumbag Lewandowski was.
In December 2016, months after Trump fired him from the campaign, Lewandowski claimed Trump’s win was a victory in the supposed war on Christmas. “It’s okay to say Merry Christmas again,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Yes, really.
And who could forget in 2018 when Lewandowski mocked on national television the plight of a 10-year-old migrant girl with Down syndrome, who had been separated from her parents due to Trump’s inhumane “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Classy stuff.
You don’t rise in the world of MAGA without disrespecting the laws of our land, and Lewandowski tried to do his part. During the first impeachment inquiry into Trump, he testified that he had no qualms with lying publicly, telling Congress, “I have no obligation to be honest with the media 'cause they're just as dishonest as anybody else.”
Then, in 2021, a GOP donor claimed Lewandowski had sexually harassed her, telling the press, “He repeatedly touched me inappropriately, said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful. I am coming forward because he needs to be held accountable.”
Even for those in Trump’s orbit, the allegations were so bad that Lewandowski was fired from his job as the head of a Trump-affiliated super PAC. He later cut a deal with Las Vegas prosecutors that allowed him to not admit guilt in the incident.
Desperate as he faces Harris, Trump is bringing back Lewandowski (along with many other former aides) even as rumors of an affair with Kristi Noem, the married governor of South Dakota, continue to swirl. I guess it might take some of the attention away from how worthless and weird the GOP’s ticket is.
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and her past support of federal funding for sanctuary cities is being used against her ahead of her critical re-election battle in November.
"Senator Tammy Baldwin voted nine times to support federal funding for sanctuary cities," the ad from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell-aligned group One Nation.
The group cited several occasions when the Democratic senator voted against measures that would have prevented federal funds from going to cities that institute sanctuary policies.
One Nation's new ad marks the launch of its $7.5 million statewide advocacy advertising effort in Wisconsin, a pivotal swing state that could determine both the presidential election and which party will be in the majority in the Senate.
The multi-million dollar Wisconsin effort is part of the group's $88 million buy that began in April.
The video additionally hits Baldwin for voting in favor of amnesty for "11 million illegal immigrants." The ad notes that this vast group includes criminals.
Further, the ad refers to a man, reportedly an illegal immigrant, who was arrested in 2019 for several assaults, including the groping of a 13-year-old girl.
"Tell Senator Tammy Baldwin to stop protecting illegal immigrants and start protecting Wisconsin," it tells viewers.
Baldwin's campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.
"Senator Tammy Baldwin had nine opportunities to make Wisconsin safer by opposing federal funding for sanctuary cities" said One Nation President and CEO Steven Law. "Instead, Senator Baldwin voted to make Wisconsin communities less safe."
Earlier this year, Baldwin voted with Senate Democrats not to continue with an impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "Impeachment is a sacred and solemn duty of Congress that is solely reserved to hold those accountable for high crimes and misdemeanors. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. Unfortunately, what we had in front of us today entirely failed to meet that high standard, lacked evidence, and was just an attempt to score cheap political points, while moving us no closer to fixing the real issues we face at our Southern border," Baldwin said in a statement following her vote in favor of dismissing the articles of impeachment.
The Democratic senator has expressed her support for a border security bill that was negotiated between a Republican, Democratic, and independent senator, but ultimately failed to garner any support from Republicans. Many even claimed the measure would have exacerbated the existing border crisis.
Since Republican senators' rejection of the border bill touted by Democrats, Baldwin and others in her caucus have accused the GOP of being the ones unwilling to take action on the southern border.
In a July Fox News Poll, Baldwin led Republican businessman Eric Hovde 54-43%. However, the Republican primary had yet to occur when the poll was taken. Hovde officially won the GOP nod for Senate in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, fending off any challengers.